The Girl Who Knew Too Much
by greysweatshirts
Summary: Amid the horrors of growing up on the wrong side of Tulsa, thirteen-year-old China Blue Curtis finds a way to make it through with the help of her older brothers and a certain towheaded greaser that she can't seem to get out of her head. Rating is subject to change.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own these characters (apart from China) or any other element of S.E. Hinton's** **The Outsiders** **.**

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China Blue Curtis was getting worried.

Sodapop had promised to pick her up from school after his shift at the DX ended; "No later than 4:30, promise!" were his exact words, yet here she was at 5:15, wondering if he had forgotten. On any other day, she would have caught a ride home with Two-Bit, Steve, Johnny and Ponyboy (who, despite their natural impatient nature as teenage boys, were fearful enough of Darryl's wrath to wait for the middle school to get out half an hour after the high school did), but she had stayed after school on that particular day to work on a group project for Advanced English.

Such an endeavor was normally unpleasant, as she was one of the only non-Soc kids in her class, but she was lucky enough to be paired with Evelyn, a sweet girl who she had bonded with over their love of books and horses despite their different social classes. The hour they had spent in the library flew by as they discussed what book they were going to do their report on (National Velvet) as well as their plans for the upcoming fall social (Evelyn being enthusiastic about attending, China being hesitant about asking Darry to go out on a school night). Evelyn had waved her goodbye with a smile, and bounded outside to her mother's car where she was greeted with a hug and a kiss. China watched this exchange with a pang, the same pang that had crossed her heart for the past eight months every time she realized that she would never be hugged or kissed by her own mother again. She held back the wave of grief that was about to wash over her and focused on her task at hand: a ride home.

Drawn outside by the beautiful May sunshine and the increasingly dirty looks of the elderly librarian, China made her way over to one of the large stone benches in the front courtyard. She began thumbing through her well-worn copy of National Velvet, and soon got lost in Enid Bagnold's familiar words.

"Need a ride, kid?"

China's blood ran cold. Without looking up from her book, words now smeared in her line of sight by trembling hands, she replied as coolly as she could.

"No, thanks."

Nothing could have prepared her for what came next. Instead of the man yelling at her or trying to grab her, he started laughing. China would have known that laugh anywhere. Fear morphed into relief and then confusion as she set down her book and looked straight into eyes as blue as her own.

"Dallas Winston?"

Dally winked at her and leaned back in the driver's seat of a car that clearly didn't belong to him, a half-lit cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth.

"In the flesh."

China cautiously placed her book down on top of her knapsack and approached the side of the car.

"I thought you were still in the cooler."

"Good behavior. Got off early."

Not entirely convinced that he hadn't made a mad break for it and ended up in front of her à la grand theft auto, the youngest Curtis took a step backwards.

"I was actually just waiting for Soda to come get me..."

Another laugh, this one slightly more impatient than the other.

"Relax, kid. Soda's backed up at work and asked me to come get you, seeing as I have Tim Shepherd's car for the week. Here."

Dallas thrust a crumpled piece of paper in China's direction, upon which a few scribbled words in what could only be Soda's handwriting were written.

 _Sorree for the weight, long line four gas, pleas let Dallie take you home._

Sodapop Curtis

China looked up from the note. She still had a few lingering questions about Dallas's sudden appearance (Why on earth would Tim Shepherd lend his car to a teenaged delinquent fresh out of prison?), but it was getting late and she desperately wanted to get home now that she knew at least one of her brothers was aware who she was getting a ride from. As she opened the passenger side of the convertible, she snuck a glance at Dally, who was presently occupied with flipping between radio channels. How strange it was that they had the same color combination of features (blond hair, blue eyes), but that they came across as delicate on her and dangerous on Dallas. He flipped the ignition as soon as she had buckled up, and roared out of the parking lot into the streets of Tulsa.

This was the first time that China had driven anywhere with Dally, and based on both his wild reputation and love for racing, she braced herself for the worst. Much to her surprise, the towheaded greaser seemed to be taking the turns with some amount of car, and while he swore in a low tone whenever faced with a red light, he made no attempt to speed right through them. The thirteen-year-old wondered if this had everything to do with her presence in the passenger seat or if Dallas was unused to driving after a few months. He turned his head ever so slightly towards her while they were at a stop, as if to see if she was actually there or not. Such a gesture, small though it may have been, caused China's heart to skip a beat. Of all of the gang members she could have chosen to have a crush on, why oh why did it have to be the one who would never love anyone other than them-self? China would never admit it to anyone, much less Dallas himself, but there was something about the way that he didn't care about what anyone else thought of him that she had fallen in love with. But at the end of the day, she knew that Dally would never see her as anything more than Darry and Soda's kid sister, and that the gestures of driving carefully and checking on her were carried out in fear of their overprotective wrath.

After what felt like an eternity of driving in silence, they finally pulled up in front of the Curtis family home. China began to gather up her things, but stopped for a moment and looked up into the hardened face of Dallas Winston.

"Thanks."

At this, Dally's rough facade briefly crumbled. He gave nothing but a brief nod and then drove away without looking back at her.

China watched the back of the car until it was no longer visible in her sight. She finally turned around, only to find Ponyboy standing on the porch with a bemused expression adoring his face.

"Dallas Winston, huh?"

Embarrassed at how evident her feelings had been portrayed, China rolled her eyes and began to make her way into the house.

"Y'know, I think the conjugal thing only works in prison when you're both adults."

At this, China tackled her brother and they rolled around in what little grass remained in the front yard. They were both slight (and thus far more fairly matched opponents than any of the other gang members, except Johnny) but at last, Pony ended up pinned under his sister's small but strong grasp.

"Jesus Christ, Chi, when did you get so buff?"

"Around the same time I never started smoking."

It was Ponyboy's turn to roll his eyes, and he struggled under her grip for a few minutes until he declared the task futile and flopped backwards. The blond girl gave a smirk and released her prisoner, dusted herself off, and finally went into the house. Despite the ridiculous comment made by Pony, China wondered to herself if there would ever be even the the potential for something more between her and Dally... But it's hard to plan for the future when you're not sure the other person has one. All she afforded herself for the moment was gratitude that it was Dallas who had pulled up in front of the school, and not someone who would ever entertain the thought of harming her. No, the threat Dally Winston posed towards her was of an entirely different nature: the threat of breaking her heart.

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 **Favorite and comment if you want to see more of this story!**

 **-greysweatshirts**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all so much for your comments! I can't wait to carry this story to its fruition… In the meantime, enjoy the chapter!**

 **I do not own these characters (apart from China) or any other element of S.E. Hinton's _The Outsiders_**

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"That looks real nutritious, Soda."

China's second eldest brother acknowledged her breakfast critique with a quick, purple-stained grin and resumed devouring a veritable mountain of scrambled eggs and jelly. China rolled her eyes and turned towards the fridge in search of sustenance, only to find that the fridge was both already open and empty (save a suspicious looking carton of milk and a plastic-wrapped slice of chocolate chocolate cake). China whirled back around and locked her now-stormy blue eyes with Sodapop's lively brown ones, mouth agape.

"Did you use the ENTIRE carton of eggs on that monstrosity?"

Soda shrugged.

"You're welcome to have some of mine if you want" came a sheepish mumble.

Somewhere deep inside of her, a volcano of hunger and frustration erupted. China rolled her eyes and stormed off towards her room to get ready for school, desperately hoping that there would be more tuna and less surprise on today's school lunch menu. As she began to shrug off her nightgown in favor of her collared blouse, the youngest Curtis imagined what her friend Evelyn was having for breakfast. Surely she never had to worry about an empty fridge. Surely her biggest problem in the morning would be deciding between pancakes or waffles, bacon or sausages, apple or orange juice...

China got so lost in her brunchtastic fantasy that she didn't hear the door swing open. As soon as she registered what was happening, she rushed to cover herself as best she could with the articles of clothing that she had in her hands.

"What the hell, Pony! A little privacy, please?"

She slammed the door shut, cheeks reddening by the minute.

"Sorry! It's just that Soda's in our room, and the lock on the bathroom door is broken again, and you're usually wasting breakfast at this time anyways..."

Having regained her modesty, China threw open the door and stared down Ponyboy.

"I would be eating breakfast at this time if there was any breakfast to be eating!"

Eyes wide at his sister's sudden outburst, Pony retreated into the kitchen and produced a plate with two of the most heavenly triangles of toast that China had ever seen.

"I was going to eat both, but we can share. Consider it a peace offering."

At this, the last of China's fury melted away like butter into gratitude. She motioned toward the spot beside her on the bed, and together they munched their way through the last slice of bread in the house in silence.

No sooner than she had taken the last bite of toast did China hear a loud crash from the living room. With a concerned sort of curiosity, she set her plate down and sauntered into the area of interest, Pony not far behind.

The Curtis's ancient black and white television, normally resting on the TV stand, had been tipped over on its side with its one remaining antenna bent roughly into the shape of a question mark. Not far away were Steve Randle and Keith "Two-Bit" Matthews, wrestling with a ferocity not seen since the time of ancient Sparta, with Soda desperately trying- and failing- to separate the two. As they were only moments away from smashing the coffee table in half, China knew that something had to be done.

"HEY!"

The boys on the floor froze at what could only be described as a perfect recreation of Mrs. Matthews' angry tone, one that was seldom inflicted upon her son and his friends. When they realized that it was China who had spoken, the fear in their eyes died down and they broke apart in a tangle of gawky teenage limbs.

"Don't you boys have anything better to do than tear our house apart? Perhaps... Oh, I don't know, driving me to school?

Two-Bit hung in head in shame while Steve cleared his throat, a guilty expression adoring his usually smirking face.

"Golly, China, we're sorry. Ol' Two-Bit and I were having a disagreement about where to go out tonight, and I guess it got a little bit out of hand."

China surveyed the damage that had been done.

"A little bit?"

Steve turned red.

"Okay, a lot out of hand. But you can just take care of it later, right?"

China had had it for the morning when it came to the ridiculous antics of teenage boys. As she was about to let the whole lot of them have it, Dally slunk through the door and rested on its frame, an unlit cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. Taking in the damage that lay in front of him, he let out a low whistle.

"You guys really did a number on this place, huh?"

The blonde boy's laissez faire attitude towards the situation only fueled China's fury.

"Why wouldn't they? They're not the ones who live here, so why wouldn't they trash it and leave it for someone else to clean up? It's not like any of us have to get to school early today or anything!"

Sensing the anger behind her words, Dally nodded his head and turned toward the culprits.

"She's right. You need to get it through your thick skulls that it's no one's responsibility to clean up the messes you've made besides your own. Just because Darry's picking up early shifts and can't be here in the mornings anymore doesn't mean that you have free reign to wreak havoc."

Two-Bit and Steve looked at each other sheepishly and began returning the living room to its original form. Dally turned to Sodapop and Ponyboy.

"You guys stay here and make sure that the two of them don't get into anymore trouble. I'll drive China to school."

The Curtis boys nodded and assumed their positions as wardens on duty. China forced down the butterflies in her stomach that had arisen when Dally came to her defense and grabbed her school bag, thanking her lucky stars for the people that cared about her in her life.

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 **Favorite and comment if you want to see more of this story!**

 **-greysweatshirts**


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